I know why the caged bird sings



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Luigi De Guzman

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Back when I first started hanging out here on rbm regularly, I was a great big fat *******. Then I
started riding, and with a bit more confidence, I was able to ride ever more improbable distances. I
was then a big fat ******* who enjoyed riding into the countryside.

For a number of reasons, I hadn't been cycling quite as much as I used to. And as a result, I have
become a great big fat ******* who couldn't ride around the block without doping.

Since there's been a lot of ice lately, I went ahead and plonked down cash for the cheapest mag
trainer I could find, attached my bike to same, and started riding.

The result is humiliating. What used to be long summer afternoons riding with an agreeable breeze
and scenery spinning away around me is now a brutal, penitential ordeal, with my wheels roaring
underneath me like Christ harrowing Hell. And push as hard as I can, I can barely manage a half-hour
of this before I just shut down.

I never used to ride for 'fitness.' On a 50-mile ride--nothing organized, mind you, just a lark--a
girl on a bike asked, as she and I were stopped getting water, what I was training for. I shrugged,
and said it was a good day to go for a ride, so I went for one. Now, being very badly out of shape,
I'm training--and I hate it. It's everything I hated about exercise: mind-numbing, body-wracking,
alienating. It constantly and brutally reminds me of how useless and ineffectual even my best
efforts are. While training, there are no victories, no sunsets, no flowers, nobody to wave at and
nobody to wave at me, no birds flying overhead. I am in my own private purgatory.

What am I training for? I'm training to get out of purgatory and into the light.

don't know why I wrote that. sorry for ranting.

-Luigi www.livejournal.com/users/ouij photos, rants, raves
 
Luigi de Guzman wrote:

> Back when I first started hanging out here on rbm regularly, I was a great big fat *******. Then I
> started riding, and with a bit more confidence, I was able to ride ever more improbable distances.
> I was then a big fat ******* who enjoyed riding into the countryside.
>
> For a number of reasons, I hadn't been cycling quite as much as I used to. And as a result, I have
> become a great big fat ******* who couldn't ride around the block without doping.
>
> Since there's been a lot of ice lately, I went ahead and plonked down cash for the cheapest mag
> trainer I could find, attached my bike to same, and started riding.
>
> The result is humiliating. What used to be long summer afternoons riding with an agreeable breeze
> and scenery spinning away around me is now a brutal, penitential ordeal, with my wheels roaring
> underneath me like Christ harrowing Hell. And push as hard as I can, I can barely manage a half-
> hour of this before I just shut down.
>
> I never used to ride for 'fitness.' On a 50-mile ride--nothing organized, mind you, just a lark--a
> girl on a bike asked, as she and I were stopped getting water, what I was training for. I
> shrugged, and said it was a good day to go for a ride, so I went for one. Now, being very badly
> out of shape, I'm training--and I hate it. It's everything I hated about exercise: mind-numbing,
> body-wracking, alienating. It constantly and brutally reminds me of how useless and ineffectual
> even my best efforts are. While training, there are no victories, no sunsets, no flowers, nobody
> to wave at and nobody to wave at me, no birds flying overhead. I am in my own private purgatory.
>
> What am I training for? I'm training to get out of purgatory and into the light.
>
> don't know why I wrote that. sorry for ranting.

Many of us feel this way about ritual exercise. Personally, I hate gyms, lap pools, and riding
rollers. I'd rather just go play -- ride my bike, go for a run, hike, or even a long walk; go
skiing, go climbing/bouldering, or swim/surf/dive in the ocean. You're probably the same kind of
person. So find another kind of play which fits your present environment, to replace the drudgery of
purely mechanical workouts, or at least improve your state of mind so they're more bearable.
Otherwise, focus on is how you'll feel if you don't get your exercise. That's what keeps me doing
what I need to do -- fear of suffering later, if I don't do the work now.

Matt O.
 
On Sat, 14 Feb 2004 16:45:57 -0500, Luigi de Guzman
<[email protected]> wrote:
>What am I training for? I'm training to get out of purgatory and into the light.
>
>don't know why I wrote that. sorry for ranting.

You wrote it to discourage me from getting a trainer, so that when we see the light, you'll ride
much better than I will.

Try http://www.gamebike.com/ and see if you feel any better about riding on the trainer.
--
Rick Onanian
 
"Luigi de Guzman" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Back when I first started hanging out here on rbm regularly, I was a great big fat *******. Then I
> started riding, and with a bit more confidence, I was able to ride ever more improbable distances.
> I was then a big fat ******* who enjoyed riding into the countryside.
>
> For a number of reasons, I hadn't been cycling quite as much as I used to. And as a result, I have
> become a great big fat ******* who couldn't ride around the block without doping.
>
> Since there's been a lot of ice lately, I went ahead and plonked down cash for the cheapest mag
> trainer I could find, attached my bike to same, and started riding.
>
> The result is humiliating. What used to be long summer afternoons riding with an agreeable breeze
> and scenery spinning away around me is now a brutal, penitential ordeal, with my wheels roaring
> underneath me like Christ harrowing Hell. And push as hard as I can, I can barely manage a half-
> hour of this before I just shut down.
>
> I never used to ride for 'fitness.' On a 50-mile ride--nothing organized, mind you, just a lark--a
> girl on a bike asked, as she and I were stopped getting water, what I was training for. I
> shrugged, and said it was a good day to go for a ride, so I went for one. Now, being very badly
> out of shape, I'm training--and I hate it. It's everything I hated about exercise: mind-numbing,
> body-wracking, alienating. It constantly and brutally reminds me of how useless and ineffectual
> even my best efforts are. While training, there are no victories, no sunsets, no flowers, nobody
> to wave at and nobody to wave at me, no birds flying overhead. I am in my own private purgatory.
>
> What am I training for? I'm training to get out of purgatory and into the light.
>
> don't know why I wrote that. sorry for ranting.
>
> -Luigi www.livejournal.com/users/ouij photos, rants, raves

I try to look at a lot of my rides and all of my time on the trainer as "dues". I did 27 miles today
by myself. It was cool and breezy. Not the kind of conditions I particulary enjoy and I'm not in
good shape right now. The entire ride felt like dues, but if I want to get out and enjoy a a 50
miler or even a century later in the season, the dues must be paid.

Ride on, sow some, reap some, Don
 
In article <[email protected]>,
Luigi de Guzman <[email protected]> writes:

> I never used to ride for 'fitness.' On a 50-mile ride--nothing organized, mind you, just a lark--a
> girl on a bike asked, as she and I were stopped getting water, what I was training for. I
> shrugged, and said it was a good day to go for a ride, so I went for one. Now, being very badly
> out of shape, I'm training--and I hate it. It's everything I hated about exercise: mind-numbing,
> body-wracking, alienating. It constantly and brutally reminds me of how useless and ineffectual
> even my best efforts are. While training, there are no victories, no sunsets, no flowers, nobody
> to wave at and nobody to wave at me, no birds flying overhead. I am in my own private purgatory.
>
> What am I training for? I'm training to get out of purgatory and into the light.

And that's what I have against rollers & trainers -- they can be such morale killers. I'm sure many
folks have figured out their own ways to psychologically mitigate to the drudgery, but once
something reaches a certain point of odium it only gets worse.

I also suspect (without really any foundation in fact) that lots of stationary training might whet
the appetite quite a bit and thereby tends to defeat any gains made in physical conditioning and
weight loss -- especially if the training is done exclusively, uncomplemented by other activities.
But I'm no authority, so I'll just pose that as a question to those more knowledgable than I.

I do think you should just drop this stationary training altogether, and ride for real, as much as
you can, and as much as conditions allow. It might be like rebuilding your conditioning from
scratch, but it certainly does come back, along with the morale-boosting benefits of challenge and
conquest, and even occasional failure.

Matt's suggestion: "find another kind of play which fits your present environment" is a good one.
Maybe ice skating? There have been times I've been tempted to seek out a cheap pair of skates (and
somewhere to use 'em), myself. If you have a public indoor swimming pool nearby, that might be
another possibility.

Anyway, getting in shape doesn't have to be tortuous, and I believe it /should/ be enjoyable. That
old "No pain, no gain" chestnut ain't worth a pinch of raccoon skat. At least, as far as pain to the
soul is concerned.

cheers, Tom

--
-- Powered by FreeBSD Above address is just a spam midden. I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn
[point] bc [point] ca
 
On Sat, 14 Feb 2004 16:45:57 -0500, Luigi de Guzman
<[email protected]> wrote:

>don't know why I wrote that. sorry for ranting.

Luigi:

I knew Maya Angelou.

And you're no Maya Angelou...
 
"Luigi de Guzman" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Back when I first started hanging out here on rbm regularly, I was a great big fat *******. Then I
> started riding, and with a bit more confidence, I was able to ride ever more improbable distances.
> I was then a big fat ******* who enjoyed riding into the countryside.
>
> For a number of reasons, I hadn't been cycling quite as much as I used to. And as a result, I have
> become a great big fat ******* who couldn't ride around the block without doping.
>
> Since there's been a lot of ice lately, I went ahead and plonked down cash for the cheapest mag
> trainer I could find, attached my bike to same, and started riding.
>
> The result is humiliating. What used to be long summer afternoons riding with an agreeable breeze
> and scenery spinning away around me is now a brutal, penitential ordeal, with my wheels roaring
> underneath me like Christ harrowing Hell. And push as hard as I can, I can barely manage a half-
> hour of this before I just shut down.

Diet, diet, diet! I'm currently slimming down also. I'm doing strength training and cycling, but if
you don't get your diet straight you'll just get frustrated. Good luck to you, and remember---you
didn't get fat and out of shape overnight, and you won't get lean and fit overnight either. Hang in
there. Structure is your friend!
 
In article <[email protected]>, luigi12081 @cox.net says...

...

> I never used to ride for 'fitness.' On a 50-mile ride--nothing organized, mind you, just a lark--a
> girl on a bike asked, as she and I were stopped getting water, what I was training for. I
> shrugged, and said it was a good day to go for a ride, so I went for one. Now, being very badly
> out of shape, I'm training--and I hate it. It's everything I hated about exercise: mind-numbing,
> body-wracking, alienating. It constantly and brutally reminds me of how useless and ineffectual
> even my best efforts are. While training, there are no victories, no sunsets, no flowers, nobody
> to wave at and nobody to wave at me, no birds flying overhead. I am in my own private purgatory.

I find it *much* easier if I set the trainer up in front of the tube, and watch something which
engages my mind at least a little. Since I'm a big fan, I find that a football game works pretty for
that. I can pretty easily keep up at least an hour when a game's on. Without something to watch,
it's more like half an hour before I'm bored out of my gourd.

>
> What am I training for? I'm training to get out of purgatory and into the light.

I do find that having some kind of training goal in the not-too-distant future also makes a big
difference in how well I can keep myself going. Something like a local race, or an organized
century, etc.

--
Dave Kerber Fight spam: remove the ns_ from the return address before replying!

REAL programmers write self-modifying code.
 
On Sat, 14 Feb 2004 18:37:09 -0600, Zippy the Pinhead
<[email protected]> wrote:

>On Sat, 14 Feb 2004 16:45:57 -0500, Luigi de Guzman <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>
>>don't know why I wrote that. sorry for ranting.
>
>Luigi:
>
>I knew Maya Angelou.
>
>And you're no Maya Angelou...

And you're not Eddy Merckx.

Or are you?

-Luigi NOT seen on TV.

www.livejournal.com/users/ouij photos, rants, raves
 
On Sat, 14 Feb 2004 18:40:35 -0500, Rick Onanian <[email protected]>
wrote:

>On Sat, 14 Feb 2004 16:45:57 -0500, Luigi de Guzman <[email protected]> wrote:
>>What am I training for? I'm training to get out of purgatory and into the light.
>>
>>don't know why I wrote that. sorry for ranting.
>
>You wrote it to discourage me from getting a trainer, so that when we see the light, you'll ride
>much better than I will.
>
>Try http://www.gamebike.com/ and see if you feel any better about riding on the trainer.

more dosh than I'm willing to shell out. Besides, you can't play Civ3 with it. And I'm not sure I
could play Civ3 while on a bike.....

-Luigi "We grow tired of your insolence. Prepare for WAR!"

www.livejournal.com/users/ouij Photos, rants, raves
 
>Many of us feel this way about ritual exercise. Personally, I hate gyms, lap pools, and riding
>rollers. I'd rather just go play -- ride my bike, go for a run, hike, or even a long walk; go
>skiing, go climbing/bouldering, o

I love to ride by the Gym and see the rats on the treadmill. I rather spend an extra 20 minutes a
day on travel and get 2 hours of workout then spend the time driving a car then trying to get to the
health club and then do something that is not fun. I get 100 miles a week in just going to work and
back how much can you get in a week if you have to go to a club? less time with family and friends
and around other sweating people huffing and puffing (G)

--
Knight-Toolworks & Custom Planes Custom made wooden planes at reasonable prices See http://www.knight-
toolworks.com For prices and ordering instructions.
 
On Sat, 14 Feb 2004 21:32:31 -0500, Luigi de Guzman
<[email protected]> wrote:

>>
>>I knew Maya Angelou.
>>
>>And you're no Maya Angelou...
>
>And you're not Eddy Merckx.
>
>Or are you?
>

I used to be.

But then I bought some vowels.
 
Luigi de Guzman <[email protected]> wrote:

> Since there's been a lot of ice lately, I went ahead and plonked down cash for the cheapest mag
> trainer I could find, attached my bike to same, and started riding.

> The result is humiliating. What used to be long summer afternoons riding with an agreeable breeze
> and scenery spinning away around me is now a brutal, penitential ordeal, with my wheels roaring
> underneath me like Christ harrowing Hell. And push as hard as I can, I can barely manage a half-
> hour of this before I just shut down.

Trainers suck. There is no question about that. Don't think of it as a simulation of an outdoor bike
ride - that's like expecting a powerbar to taste like real food. In this vein, half an hour on a
trainer is perfectly respectable - only a true psychopath will go for multi-hour "rides" on a
trainer. Mitigate the damage: watch TV, or better, old Tour de France videos. Drink a lot of water
and don't overheat. Don't turn up the trainer resistance so high that every pedal stroke hurts.

> being very badly out of shape, I'm training--and I hate it. It's everything I hated about
> exercise: mind-numbing, body-wracking, alienating. It constantly and brutally reminds me of how
> useless and ineffectual even my best efforts are. While training, there are no victories, no
> sunsets, no flowers, nobody to wave at and nobody to wave at me, no birds flying overhead. I am in
> my own private purgatory.

Sometimes, working up a sweat is its own reward. But if you wish to continue, remember that even
though it seems like you aren't achieving anything, you are progressing, incrementally. Little steps
for little feet.
 
On Sat, 14 Feb 2004 18:40:35 -0500, Rick Onanian <[email protected]> wrote:

>On Sat, 14 Feb 2004 16:45:57 -0500, Luigi de Guzman <[email protected]> wrote:
>>What am I training for? I'm training to get out of purgatory and into the light.
>>
>>don't know why I wrote that. sorry for ranting.
>
>You wrote it to discourage me from getting a trainer, so that when we see the light, you'll ride
>much better than I will.
>
>Try http://www.gamebike.com/ and see if you feel any better about riding on the trainer.

Well, on a related note, I can now report that after two weeks of 3-4x/week stationary biking in
addition to the outdoor ride, that my legs feel much stronger, the cadence has improved, and the amt
of effort I can put out is much higher on the trail bike.

The first week at the end of day four, when I hit the trail, the quads were hurting the whole ride,
but not unmanageable. Now, I don't even feel it, though I've essentially doubled my riding. I do 40
min on the sta. bike and then 45 on the trail.

I push myself more on the stationary bike b/c I know if I hit my limit, no big deal, I'll get off
and stretch for a minute and continue on. In fact, when I 'finish', I'll get off and stretch and
then do 10 min more.

So even though it's mentally painful to ride a sta. bike and be indoors, it's worth it to me for the
improvement in strength and cadence.

Also, I'm getting that much more exercise by doing these two-a-days.

Just my 2 cents...

-B
 
In article <[email protected]>,
Luigi de Guzman <[email protected]> wrote:

> On Sat, 14 Feb 2004 18:40:35 -0500, Rick Onanian <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >On Sat, 14 Feb 2004 16:45:57 -0500, Luigi de Guzman <[email protected]> wrote:
> >>What am I training for? I'm training to get out of purgatory and into the light.
> >>
> >>don't know why I wrote that. sorry for ranting.
> >
> >You wrote it to discourage me from getting a trainer, so that when we see the light, you'll ride
> >much better than I will.
> >
> >Try http://www.gamebike.com/ and see if you feel any better about riding on the trainer.
>
> more dosh than I'm willing to shell out. Besides, you can't play Civ3 with it. And I'm not sure I
> could play Civ3 while on a bike.....
>
> -Luigi "We grow tired of your insolence. Prepare for WAR!"

You could play the fairly lame Playstation version of Civ2 on it. But I owned that version, and once
I found a cheap copy for the Mac, it never came out of its jewel box again.

I suppose you're on the trainer because of your frigid locale as much as anything else, no? Because
out here, and I don't mean to torment you, the weather is very mild right now. A trainer might be
good for very specific training, but I prefer cross-training: I couldn't make my usual ride today,
so instead I spent a few hours in the afternoon beating myself up on a mountain bike (dirt trails
are great cold/winter weather rides because the slower speeds and brutal climbs mean less windchill
and more exercise-induced heating). I'm pleased to say the new fork seals seem to work, and I rolled
down my favourite trail at a respectable clip, and rode obstacles I have not ridden before.

But Luigi: the trainer. Just in time for Lent!

--
Ryan Cousineau, [email protected] http://www.sfu.ca/~rcousine President, Fabrizio Mazzoleni Fan Club
 
On Sat, 14 Feb 2004 22:59:58 -0800, Ryan Cousineau <[email protected]>
wrote:

>In article <[email protected]>, Luigi de Guzman
><[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> On Sat, 14 Feb 2004 18:40:35 -0500, Rick Onanian <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>> >On Sat, 14 Feb 2004 16:45:57 -0500, Luigi de Guzman <[email protected]> wrote:
>> >>What am I training for? I'm training to get out of purgatory and into the light.
>> >>
>> >>don't know why I wrote that. sorry for ranting.
>> >
>> >You wrote it to discourage me from getting a trainer, so that when we see the light, you'll ride
>> >much better than I will.
>> >
>> >Try http://www.gamebike.com/ and see if you feel any better about riding on the trainer.
>>
>> more dosh than I'm willing to shell out. Besides, you can't play Civ3 with it. And I'm not sure I
>> could play Civ3 while on a bike.....
>>
>> -Luigi "We grow tired of your insolence. Prepare for WAR!"
>
>You could play the fairly lame Playstation version of Civ2 on it. But I owned that version, and
>once I found a cheap copy for the Mac, it never came out of its jewel box again.

It was all about the unbeatable Leonardo's Workshop/ Sun Tzu's War Academy combo. and it was all
over once I'd finished Adam Smith's Trading Company. The Civ3 rule changes still have me foxed in
some places. I do dig the culture rules though.

>
>I suppose you're on the trainer because of your frigid locale as much as anything else, no?

NoVA isn't really frigid--when I got the trainer, there was way too much ice/slush everywhere to
even think about making a start outside. Now daily high temps have climbed up into the 40's
Fahrenheit (4-6 C) range, so theoretically I could start riding outside again. But then, right
about the time I get to the library--a bit more than a mile down the road--I stop being able to
feel my fingers.

Yes. Gloves, I know.

And I only do the outside bit street clothes.

> Because out here, and I don't mean to torment you, the weather is very mild right now. A trainer
> might be good for very specific training, but I prefer cross-training: I couldn't make my usual
> ride today, so instead I spent a few hours in the afternoon beating myself up on a mountain bike
> (dirt trails are great cold/winter weather rides because the slower speeds and brutal climbs mean
> less windchill and more exercise-induced heating).

I hadn't thought of that. The only remotely mountainbike like thingie readily at hand is my rusting
ten year old huffy, which approaches suitability because it has tires that are not narrow. And that
rusting conveyance is set up for my brother. Maybe time to yank the seatpost up a bit higher and
throw a cheap bike around in the dirt--hell, that's what I used to do when I was a kid....

I'm not sure I'm all into the whole specific versus crosstraining thing. In my current state,
*anything* will do, I think. The whole literature on getting in shape seems to have been written for
supermen who intend to ride Paris-Brest-Paris, and not for lardarses who intend to lose weight & get
into reasonable form for summertime. Those PBP riders probably aren't carrying the additional 40 kg
that I'm carrying....

Will buying an HRM and all the associated 'performance' stuff make me a better machine for turning
oxygen into miles? probably.

But the question is: does it really matter? I'm starting from zero, or some point arbitrarily close
to zero. *Any* gain I make is a gain, right? I resist 'training' because 'training' is what athletes
do. In the immortal words of former Phillies first-baseman John Kruk: "Ma'am, I'm no athlete--I'm a
baseball player!" (Speaking of ballplayers, I hear David Wells, the Yankee Hutt, is a keen cyclist.
No grimpeur, he, but he can really tear up those descents...)

I don't know. All I know is that in May the honeysuckle blooms, and it's awful nice to have ridden
out to where the honeysuckle blooms before breakfast, in May.

>I'm pleased to say the new fork seals seem to work, and I rolled down my favourite trail at a
>respectable clip, and rode obstacles I have not ridden before.

Do$h is always the problem. Only suspension time I get is borrowing Dad's bike to get around town--
it's a front-sus, sprung-post city bike thing he never uses, due to the fact that he's always out of
town, and old enough to be terrified of traffic....

>But Luigi: the trainer. Just in time for Lent!

You didn't need to remind me. You're giving me bad ideas as to what I should give up for Lent.

-Luigi Penitenziagite!

www.livejournal.com/users/ouij Photos, rants, raves
 
In article <[email protected]>,
Luigi de Guzman <[email protected]> writes:

> But the question is: does it really matter?

Aw, Luigi! Yer thinkin' too much, and not riding enuff.

You know what to do.

And if you don't have gloves, just put layers of damn socks or sumpthin' over your hands. There's
always a way. Just leave your fingers wrigglable. Heck, I'm using 3-season full-fingered gloves w/
cheap gardening gloves layered over them. Whenever I go to the shops, I've gotta wrap them in a
plastic shopping bag, and that within another muslin bag, to restrain their fragrance.

Winter's well past the half-way mark now, anyway.

A ride doesn't have to be perfect in every way; it just has to be done at all.

cheers, Tom

--
-- Powered by FreeBSD Above address is just a spam midden. I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn
[point] bc [point] ca
 
In article <[email protected]>,
Luigi de Guzman <[email protected]> wrote:

> On Sat, 14 Feb 2004 22:59:58 -0800, Ryan Cousineau <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >In article <[email protected]>, Luigi de Guzman
> ><[email protected]> wrote:
> >
> >> On Sat, 14 Feb 2004 18:40:35 -0500, Rick Onanian <[email protected]> wrote:
> >>
> >> >On Sat, 14 Feb 2004 16:45:57 -0500, Luigi de Guzman <[email protected]> wrote:

> >I suppose you're on the trainer because of your frigid locale as much as anything else, no?
>
> NoVA isn't really frigid--when I got the trainer, there was way too much ice/slush everywhere to
> even think about making a start outside. Now daily high temps have climbed up into the 40's
> Fahrenheit (4-6 C) range, so theoretically I could start riding outside again. But then, right
> about the time I get to the library--a bit more than a mile down the road--I stop being able to
> feel my fingers.
>
> Yes. Gloves, I know.
>
> And I only do the outside bit street clothes.

There are still options, though I might encourage you to expand your view of street clothes :). BTW,
for great winter gloves, check out skiing/snowboarding gloves, two sports with lots of windchill and
very good incentives to figure out how to make gloves work in the 40F range.

> > Because out here, and I don't mean to torment you, the weather is very mild right now. A trainer
> > might be good for very specific training, but I prefer cross-training: I couldn't make my usual
> > ride today, so instead I spent a few hours in the afternoon beating myself up on a mountain bike
> > (dirt trails are great cold/winter weather rides because the slower speeds and brutal climbs
> > mean less windchill and more exercise-induced heating).
>
> I hadn't thought of that. The only remotely mountainbike like thingie readily at hand is my
> rusting ten year old huffy, which approaches suitability because it has tires that are not
> narrow. And that rusting conveyance is set up for my brother. Maybe time to yank the seatpost up
> a bit higher and throw a cheap bike around in the dirt--hell, that's what I used to do when I was
> a kid....

Good idea! After all, everyone rode rigid MTBs on trails 10 years ago. Actual good non-Huffy rigid
MTBs can now be pulled out of trash cans in working order these days; their value has fallen to
almost that of early-80s road bikes.

There has been a certain symbiotic relationship between the difficulty of modern trails and the
capability of modern suspension bikes. But that's less likely to effect you in NoVA than it is me,
oh-so-close to The Shore. Even so, they didn't tear up the easy trails when people stopped riding
rigid forks. So go ride those trails. It's great fun.

> I'm not sure I'm all into the whole specific versus crosstraining thing. In my current state,
> *anything* will do, I think. The whole literature on getting in shape seems to have been written
> for supermen who intend to ride Paris-Brest-Paris, and not for lardarses who intend to lose weight
> & get into reasonable form for summertime. Those PBP riders probably aren't carrying the
> additional 40 kg that I'm carrying....

The truth is that most of the riders here started as lard-asses. Luigi, my _father_ rides to work
every day he can manage it, constantly complaining to me about how tired he gets (at the same time
praising the new SPD shoes I found for him, and describing how he set a "new world record" on his
commute). One thing I have found is that I have to periodically re-motivate dad once in a while,
because as it turns cold, he easily finds reasons to avoid riding the bike to work. This year, the
impetus for getting him back on the bike last week was to try the new shoes I set up.

When I was a 178-pound lardass (that being about 10 pounds shy of my heaviest weight), I just got on
my bike and rode to work. The training program for non-supermen is like this: gradual increases,
don't force the issue, recovery time!

The long version is that a longer ride a few times a week is better than a short ride every day.
When I started riding to work, my goal was 2 days a week. After a month or so, I allowed myself 3
days a week. I didn't ride to work all five days in one week for many months.

In your case, the use of a trainer and my assumption that you have the time means that you can have
"recovery" rides on your "rest" days if you prefer: very low intensity (it feels stupid, like you're
not doing any work at all, if you're doing it right).

My training is always focussed primarily on keeping my commute effective, secondarily on having
fun, and lastly (but not unimportantly) on kicking ass in every race I enter this year. To that
end I'm going

> Will buying an HRM and all the associated 'performance' stuff make me a better machine for turning
> oxygen into miles? probably.
>
> But the question is: does it really matter? I'm starting from zero, or some point arbitrarily
> close to zero. *Any* gain I make is a gain, right? I resist 'training' because 'training' is what
> athletes do. In the immortal words of former Phillies first-baseman John Kruk: "Ma'am, I'm no athlete--
> I'm a baseball player!" (Speaking of ballplayers, I hear David Wells, the Yankee Hutt, is a keen
> cyclist. No grimpeur, he, but he can really tear up those descents...)

Yes, yes! If you're like me, what you'll find is that training is not an end (er...), but enters
your life as a means to greater cycling goals. If you never find any, there's no need to train.

Don't get me wrong: doing particular training activities will make you go faster on the bike, and
training works better than "just riding along". The difference to my riding that occurred when I
started adding intervals to my routine was astonishing. Riding to work just got much easier and
faster. It was like a shortcut to fitness. Except that intervals hurt like crazy and are hard to get
motivated for.

> I don't know. All I know is that in May the honeysuckle blooms, and it's awful nice to have ridden
> out to where the honeysuckle blooms before breakfast, in May.
>
> >I'm pleased to say the new fork seals seem to work, and I rolled down my favourite trail at a
> >respectable clip, and rode obstacles I have not ridden before.
>
> Do$h is always the problem. Only suspension time I get is borrowing Dad's bike to get around town--
> it's a front-sus, sprung-post city bike thing he never uses, due to the fact that he's always out
> of town, and old enough to be terrified of traffic....

Don't worry about suspension. All the benefits of off-road riding can accrue with a rigid bike and a
few dirty trails. Even taking a road bike out on gravel paths can make a difference, as you will
notice the rolling resistance, thus getting you back into that going-slower, working-harder
situation again.

Also, it will lead you to explore new places, and that may well be enugh motivation to get yourself
on the bike more often.

> >But Luigi: the trainer. Just in time for Lent!
>
> You didn't need to remind me. You're giving me bad ideas as to what I should give up for Lent.

I'm giving up chocolate again. I really, really like chocolate, and it turns out that fortuitously,
I am planning to use a 6-week interval-based training program to ride a race set for Easter weekend.
Combined with my hope of losing another 6-10 lbs. for racing season (If I lose about another 2
pounds, I will be decisively under my previous lightest adult weight), it's the perfect penance.

> -Luigi Penitenziagite!

"...3 Our Fathers, 3 Hail Marys, and 4 interval reps on a hill."

--
Ryan Cousineau, [email protected] http://www.sfu.ca/~rcousine President, Fabrizio Mazzoleni Fan Club
 
The excellent Ryan Costineau wrote:

>The truth is that most of the riders here started as lard-asses.

Ryan, he knows all that. Remember, we all ready trained him, he knows the drill. He just needs a
kick in the butt to get going again.

--

_______________________ALL AMIGA IN MY MIND_______________________ ------------------"Buddy Holly,
the Texas Elvis"------------------
__________306.350.357.38>>[email protected]__________
 
In article <[email protected]>,
"Eric S. Sande" <[email protected]> writes:

> Ryan, he knows all that. Remember, we all ready trained him, he knows the drill. He just needs a
> kick in the butt to get going again.

Durn tootin'.

cheers, Tom

--
-- Powered by FreeBSD Above address is just a spam midden. I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn
[point] bc [point] ca
 
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